MaiOtome back in action Shizuru rulezzzzz!
by Zac Ong
Summary: This is my first attempt with this website and so on. I'm nt sure with all these stuff if anyone can kindly guide me on the things that i did wrong k? thanks.
1. Chapter 1

Hi this is the first time I trying to write a small story. My first attempt. I had just watched Mai Hime and Mai Otome few weeks ago. And to tell the truth, I think I had fallen in love with it. Especially with Shizuru. I do not own Mai Hime or Mai Otome no matter how hard I wished. This is just my very first attempt at writing a story. If the feedback is good then I will try to carry on writing. Btw I am from Singapore and to my understanding I know there is Mai Otome Zwei, and Sifr animes right? Anyone knows where to get them? And also any books on the characters in this two anime like Natsuki Prelude and so on. If anyone knows where to get all these in Singapore, please tell me k? Thanks.

**Chapter One – Shizuru face danger**

Feeling the wind breeze through the chestnut strands, sending a shiver down the spine, and the sudden coolness made Shizuru brought her hands to hug herself. Walking down the street alone, and into the dark alley, she thought to herself. "Ara ara how quiet the street is now tat it is 4am in the morning. How I wish Natsuki is here strolling with me."

But as much as she wished, Natsuki was nowhere near her now. Shizuru is now in the Artai where the Slave was last spotted. And it had taken the lives of 200 innocent civilians and injured the 3 Trias so badly that they were still in a coma after one week. As a meister otome and the third column of Garderobe, she had been sent here to investigate and get rid of the Slave at the request of the Council. Help had been offered for some other otomes to assist her but she rejected all of them. Not that she was proud and snobbish. But she did not want to get anymore otomes injured unnecessarily. The situation in all the countries were already as tense and all countries were trying so hard to restore themselves to before Nagi messed up the whole world.

This back alley used to be bustering with life and activities but now not a single soul was here due to the attack one week ago. Haruka had fought with the guards that were holding her down and earlier in their secret meeting; President Yukino had given Shizuru the promise of not giving Haruka permission to materialize her robe so that Haruka could not join Shizuru in the search. Although Haruka was always seen fighting with Shizuru at everything since they were Corals and roommates, they had a sense of strong bond for each other friendship. Though they never made this point known, they had always been there for each other through their fair share of happiness and difficulties. Though they never once told each other what was going on in the mind but they seem to have a psychic on what's going on inside each other's heads.

Thinking back at what happened earlier in her secret meeting with President Yukino, Shizuru chuckled to herself. Instead of the usual walking through the main door of the President's office, Shizuru pulled a black cloak over her usual light purple Meister Otome dress, lurk around the grounds, carefully to avoid the super duper tight security and then finally jumped up into the third storey wide open window to the President office noiselessly. She crept up behind the President and then with a swift motion, caught Yukino left wrist and spunned her round then with her right hand hold her waist that resembled a tango position with the President almost parallel to the ground.

Caught off guard and by the sudden swift motion and super awkward position, the President was dumbfound. Her eyes opened widely and before she could react, the attacker brought her face so closed that if a centimeter more, their lips would have been in contact. "Oh my god, who is this person who snuck into my office without an uproar outside and where, is Haruka? Am I going to be kiss by this person? Haruka come save me please because the only one that I wanted to kiss is you... Tons of thoughts went through Yukino's mind. She closed her eyes so tightly suddenly at the thought that her kiss is going to be stolen by this intruder...

But at this close, a sweet smell and a familiar scent floated to Yukino's nose as their faces and lips were almost touching. Yukino yanked open her eyes and gasped out weakly, "Shizuru, what are you thinking of? I am not Natsuki you know." The intruder pulled away her face and pulled the president back to a standing position before letting out a chuckle and removing the hood of her cloak. "Ara ara the President is quite smart as usual. How did you figure out that it is me? I tried to put our faces so close that you are unable to see my face. Hehe."

"I smelled your beautiful scent and the fragrance of the tea with your face this close to mine and thought to myself, the only one who is able to crept into my office without creating an uproar outside and the ability to spun me around unaware and hold me in that gorgeous position that no one had even done to me is only you Shizuru." Yukino smiled to herself at her at her brilliant guess.

The uninvited guest gave her usual chuckle and bowed respectfully to the President as Yukino lowered herself into the comfort of her armchair behind the table smiling at Shizuru. "So what brings our lovely charming lady here who always send them into dizzy spells whenever they got caught in the way of your gaze and smiles, dressed up like a thief snuck into my office and give me a so wonderful position just now that almost make me wished tat it was Haruka with me in her arms in that position at this hour of the night. Don't tell me that you have a crush on me suddenly cos everyone knows who your heart belongs to."

Noticing that her sentence sent a blush up from the neck to the ears of the Charming Amethyst Meister Otome, Yukino was not able to sniffle her laughter any longer. This made Shizuru blushed even more and the two of them broke into small fits of giggles at each other red faces. They tried so hard to keep their laughter down and after a few minutes, they regained their composures and settled down ready for business.

"I believed that Natsuki had called you earlier to inform you about me going to deal with the Slave alone right two hours ago." Yukino nodded and wait for Shizuru to carry on. "I'm actually here to ask a favor from you." The chestnut changed her tone slightly and Yukino knew things were getting more serious. "I want you to refuse Haruka when she asked for your permission to materialize her robe to help me out."

This sentence sent the president mouth gaping and held her breath for a few seconds. Silence inside the office suddenly make the creaking of the frogs outside seems so loud. Yukino opened her mouth to protest, only to be interrupted by Shizuru who carried on, "I know this is hard and I do not have much confidence that if I am able to take down the Slave myself, and I know Haruka well enough that she will not allow me to go on this mission alone one. But Yukino, because of the inadequate information on the slave, cos our Trias have yet to awaken, I cannot risk the life of anymore people that are close to me. Natsuki wanted to come with me but I make her stay in Garderobe with the idea that the Slave might have move and she needs to be there to protect the academy as the Gakuencho. And of course before I move out, she made me promise her that I will be back regardless of what happened. I am uncertain about the probabilities of the outcome should I come face to face with the Slave. But I need to ensure that the other otomes are taking care of the world and their responsibilities. And someone strong like Haruka should be able to revenge me and kill the Slave should I fail in my mission. If she goes with me now, and place herself in the same dangerous situation..." Shizuru's voice trailed off slowly and Yukino understood her point.

Pushing up her specs slightly, the short hair President gave a small sign and a slight nod to Shizuru. Just when she was going to say something, the outroar outside her office made her stop. Shizuru and Yukino could hear that ever stomping Haruka outside trying to barge through the guards to Yukino's office. "Thanks. Help me take care of Natsuki and Haruka should something bad happens to me. They are my closest family even though not blood related." Shizuru mumbled before she leapt out of the window.

Haruka barged through the door and saw the smiling President looking at her. "It's okay. You both can leave now" Yukino said to the guards and with slight bows, the guards took their leave and closed the doors quietly. Haruka slapped down her two hands on the table and looked at Yukino with her big sincere eyes and opened her mouth. Yukino was shocked cos she expected an outburst from that ever so loud mouth but instead all that came was a soft plead. "Let me go with Shizuru please. Materialize my robe please Yukino..." Haruka was so desperate now after hearing the news that Shizuru was going to face that SLAVE alone. She wanted nothing to happen to the best friend that she had looked up to ever since they were corals. She wanted to be there together with Shizuru in case that Slave was too much for Shizuru to handle.

"No." The bespectacled President said softly yet firmly.

"WHY NO!! WHY DID YOU REFUSE MY REQUEST? I...I..." The sentence was hung there because tears came rolling down Haruka's cheeks. She was not someone who would cry and yet she fell so hopeless now. Without Yukino's approval and kiss on her gem, there's no way she can go and help Shizuru without her robe as she had received report on the damages that the Slave had done one week ago. She clenched her fists tightly, biting her lips, she hissed out another soft please.

Yukino Chrisant looked calmly at her meister and shooked her head again. Though she may look calm but her hearts was almost torn when she saw the tears streaming down Haruka face. She remembered and understood Shizuru's meaning so all that she could do was just as promised. Yukino turned her head away, stood up and walked towards the open window. Staring at the full moon, she said to Haruka, "At a time like this, much as I would like to materialize you, but I will not. I hope you will understand my intentions and it's also a request from ..." she did not manage to finish her sentence as she heard the door slammed open with a crying Haruka running out. Yukino finally let her own tears that welled up for so long in her eyes down. She turned towards the windows cos she did not want Haruka to see them. She knew that turning down Haruka's proposal and plea had hurt the latter so much till even her heart ached. As the tears came down nonstop, Yukino looked up to the moon again and pray in her heart. _Please be safe Shizuru._

Meanwhile back at Garderobe, Natsuki was not feeling good at all. A heavy feeling kept churning inside her stomach. She wanted to go together with Shizuru but her love just would not allow. Shizuru made her stay here on the account that she was the Gakuencho of Garderobe, the most important person here and she had to take care of everyone here. Though Shizuru had given her a promise to return before she left, sealed with a kiss, Natsuki could not help but worry and pray hard for her return. Seeing there's nothing she could do now, she went back to her test and decide to call Youko.

"How are the Trias doing?" Natsuki asked. "Not good. They have yet to wake up and all that Shiho was mumbling on and off was maki maki. Their conditions are stable now probably due to the nano machines inside them but I still worry for the head concussions they had been in due to their fight that day, which is probably the reason why they were still in coma." Youko gave a small sign at the end of the phone. Natsuki whispered thanks and hung up the phone. She looked at the photo frame near her phone and then dialed another number. "Yes?" came a sleepy voice. "I need you to come to my office now" came Natsuki's reply.

Shizuru did not leave Yukino's grounds actually after she leapt out of the windows gracefully. Instead she hide carefully at the nearest tree and was looking at both Yukino and Haruka's conversation. Even though she knew that Haruka was worried sick for her, she still could not avoid her usual teasing way to Haruka. _Ara Ara I will love to see Haruka's face if I go back into the office. _But there was not much time to waste anymore. When she saw Haruka stomp out of the office and a sobbing Yukino by the windows, she mumbled a soft thank you and crept back the way she came from.

She reached her destination after around 30 minutes of flying at full speed on her Meister Robe. She stopped her robe and then proceed to scout the whole area. The alley was long and dark. Debris were everywhere. Even though the army had cleared up, they left the destructions there and just transport away all the casualties and corpse. _It certainly looked like an earthquake zone._ Shizuru thought to herself. Scouting the area carefully and absorbing as much info as she could see, with her sharp ears trying to pick up any noises, the whole area seemed dead except for the scuttling around of some cockroaches and mice. She continued making her way deeper into the alley carefully not to trip over anything.

She came to a point and stopped. Bent down and pick up something on the floor. Holding it up against the full moon, she dust off the dirt on the thing._ Shiho will be glad to get her maki maki doll back when I go back. _Shizuru smiled to herself. She carefully kept the voodoo doll and turned around to look at the surroundings. _This must be where the fight broke out that night._ There were signs of fighting everywhere. The holes at the walls behind, the burnt marks left on the grounds and so on. Shizuru was peering underneath another pile of rumble when her sharp ears caught a small sound. Instinctly she turned round so swiftly but she was not seeing what she expected of the Slave.

Instead there stood small boy. With blond hair and blue eyes, he looked about 5 years old. He was hugging to his toy panda so tightly in his chest and he looked at Shizuru. A soft voice came out of his mouth and he said, "Have you seen my twin onii-chan here? I am looking for him because I lost him." Shizuru thought to herself. _How come anyone is still here? Some more this small boy alone here searching for his twin older brother. Something's not right here. Never mind, I shall play along and see what he wants._

"I just reached here and I did not see anyone but you here. Are you alright boy? Where are your parents? How come they let you wander around alone here?" Shizuru asked the boy. His large innocent blue eyes stared up at Shizuru and said, "I do not know." And suddenly grew limp and his legs gave way as well as the eyes became a dull colour. Shizuru rushed over to his side and she managed to catch hold of the boy before he reached the ground. She was about to take a close look at him and suddenly, something wrapped themselves around her so tightly that she dropped the boy. Looking down, she saw wired like tentacles entangled around her tying her hands to her body so tightly that she could not budge an inch at all.

The boy now stood up and grinned at Shizuru. "You are one innocent lady. Onii chan come come. I caught her already." Another small figure stepped out from the shadows and went to stand with the boy. The newcomer was also clutching an identical toy panda and dressed in exactly the same attire. The two of them now have a smudge grin on their faces and under the moonlight, they look so cute like innocent boys but yet they were not. The tentacles that was tied up to Shizuru was extended from behind the older twin body.

_New type of slave they must have invented. Those Swartz must have been through a lot to be able to modify them till they are so human like and there was no sense of bloodlust at all if they were to hide it. _Shizuru thought to herself and then she asked, "Ara ara you cute little boys, what do you want with me? Tying me up like this I cannot play hide and seek with you all." She chuckled to them. "And also you boys are quite smart to be able to get me tied up from behind cos usually it is me who takes people from behind."

The twins turned to each other and smiled. The two of them held up their toy pandas and squeezed. A puff of smoke came out and Shizuru held her breath so that she did not inhale the smoke in case they were dangerous or poisonous. When the smoke cleared, the two boys had disappeared. In their place were two hideous looking creatures with tentacles, 3 legs and a sharp scorpion tail each waving menacingly in the air. Their eyes were red and glaring fiercely at Shizuru. Tongues were wagging out and saliva were dripping. At the places where the saliva dropped to the ground, a hiss could be heard as the ground burnt a hole at contact. _This explained the burnt marks on the floor._ Shizuru looked up to them with her same calm expression and said. "Oh... so it was you boys who did such terrible things to my students and caused hurt and killed so many innocent citizens. So what you both want to do with me now that I cannot move at all?"

The Slaves advanced closer and closer to Shizuru, expecting her to break up in the sweat but they had underestimated the Charming Amethyst Otome who was also the third pillar of Garderobe. Waving their tentacles at her, they said in perfect timing, "We want your body." Just when they were about to reach Shizuru, "Materialize" the slave who had Shizuru in captive lost a couple of his tentacles as Shizuru materialized her robe and was standing around 1 meter away from them. Holding her element Naginata, she looked ever so gorgeous in the moonlight. And some broken tentacles were lying on the floor. Expecting some anger from the Slave, nothing came. Shizuru looked at the cuts that she had inflicted on the Slave. This time her eyes opened wider in astonishment. The tentacles were regenerating at a super high speed. And seconds later, they were back to normal.

"Now we shall stop teasing our Charming Amethyst Lady out here already." Smith voice bloomed out from the Slave on the right. _Smith, Schwartz was behind all this._ "Smith, long time no hear from you already. So you came back with these two new toys that you invented? I must admit I'm quite impressive with the regeneration functions that they have. So I supposed that no matter where I cut them, they will be able to grow them back in no time right? _Oh my. This was quite a sticky situation now._

"Yes my lady you are correct in your part and also these new slaves are now way much faster and smarter than the older versions one. And they are equipped with infra ray and transmittal waves that can cause severe injuries should they come into contact with you. They are practically invincible now. Hahaha..." Smith voice was heard again. Thoughts were racing profusely inside the Amethyst's head. Still keeping her cool, she had analyzed the whole situation and in her current robe, there was no way for her to defeat even one slave due to their regenerative powers not to mention that there were two of them now. Running away was not an alternative for her too cause her back was now stuck to the wall with the two monsters advancing towards her. She was snapped out of her thoughts as a sharp excruciating pain struck into her right side and the next moment she was hanging in the air. Looking to her right she saw herself pierced by one of the Slave who had his tail buried and extended from below ground quietly and pierced into her.

Swaying her Naginata with a swift flick of her arms, she chopped away the tail and dropped down to the ground. Pain was overbearing and blood was losing fast. The broken tail was still stuck in her body but she had no time to pull it out. I need to get away fast then think of some tactics before my body fails me now. Glancing around fugitively, she saw a route that she could escape to, only if her body holds up. She switched into fly mode and flew up into the air. The Slaves aimed beams of rays at her but she managed to dodge them. Clutching her naginata in her left hand and the right hand was trying to hold together to prevent blood from flowing out of the wound and hoping the pain would go off. But it did not help at all. Her robe stopped when she was a safe distance away and she could feel herself falling. Her eyes were closing and she was expecting to drop to the ground but it never came. Her strength was failing and she was sipping into unconsciousness anytime.

She felt strong arms embraced her before she land, opening her eyes a little to see who it was, she gave a small smile and whispered, "Thanks Nao." And Shizuru slipped into the darkness.


	2. Chapter 2

My second chapter is up

My second chapter is up. Please enjoy yourself and kindly review if you want. Thanks. By the way I found Mai Otome Zwei Epi 1 - 4 and Mai Otome Sifr epi 1 n 2 from youtube and watched them both two times last night. Super good! I do not own Mai Hime/Otome. This is just writing from my own imagination. Hope you all enjoy. I love Shizuru so much. Natsuki and Chie. Lol after watching the Zwei, I start to like Haruka more and more. Haha she's so funny. Please help correct me if you all spotted any mistakes in my stories. Thanks a lot.

**Chapter Two – Natsuki and Shizuru**

"Let me go, Yukino! I cannot allow the person who did this to Shizuru to go codfish!" Haruka yelled at the bespectacled President in a fluster. "Scot free you mean." Despite their disagreement, Yukino still correct Haruka as usual. "Please keep your volume down, the patient needs rest. Even though the nano machines are doing their job, but considering the amount of blood lost and the number of ribs and bones broken, it's a miracle she still make it pass the critical stage. But she is still not awake yet. It's been three days already." Nao's voice could be heard from the corner where she stood.

Nao found Shizuru bleeding and battered and falling to the ground as Shizuru failed to keep her robe on. She caught her just before the latter hit the ground and ended up carrying a bloodied unconscious Shizuru back to the Aries President office. Nao was called up from her sleep by Natsuki. She headed out straight after hearing what Natsuki said and even though she caught up with Shizuru, looking at the critically injured body, she could not bear to bring her back to Garderobe to Youko. Natsuki would probably freak out and rushed out to kill the Slave who did that to her beloved Viola. It was a heartache to see the powerful Shizuru this way too because no one had ever been able to injure the Charming Amethyst, much less to send her fleeing and in coma. _That Slave must have been too powerful to be able to land Shizuru in such a state. _Nao thought. _Stubborn Natsuki will definitely be in tears if she see her like that and if she heads out, she will probably end up like Shizuru or even worse. I do not wish to carry two columns back bloodied and unconscious. It makes people think that I was the one who was injured._ Nao still remembered the looks on the guards' faces when she carried Shizuru to Yukino office.

Natsuki could barely control herself when she received a call from Nao, the fourth column of Garderobe, that Shizuru was found and injured. She had demanded Nao to bring Shizuru back to Garderobe but as usual Nao disobeyed her. She wanted to fly to Airies but was stopped by Miss Maria, who reminded her of her responsibilities. But thinking about her beloved, she was worried sick and she did not eat or drink for three days already. All she knew was that Shizuru was in coma for three whole days and was yet to regain consciousness. Yukino and Nao refused to tell her how bad Shizuru injuries were. Biting on her lips to controlled the tears that were brimming in her eyes, she looked at the seat where Shizuru always like to sit in her office, sipping tea beautifully and peacefully, images of a unconscious, injured Shizuru flashed again in her mind. Unable to hold back her tears any longer, she leaned towards the wall weakly and cried her heart out. She did not hear her door opened and a figure stepped in, closed the door quietly and walked towards her. Natsuki found someone embraced her and she looked up. Seeing that it was, she buried her face in Midori's bosom and cried for a good long time.

Midori had become a frequent visitor to Garderobe since the war with Nagi finished. She was currently in Windbloom for some errands and treatment. But hearing news about Shizuru, she knew that the Gakuencho would break down soon. She heard from Youko, that Natsuki did not eat or drink for three days already, she decided to pay her a visit. When she was about to knock on the Gakuencho's door, she heard only sniffles and sobbing, Midori let herself in quietly. It was heart wrenching to see Natsuki crying alone at a corner. The principal had always been strong and cold. During Nagi's occupation that time, no matter how hard or bad things got, the principal still fight all the way without any tears. _She must have love Shizuru a lot and worried sick. _Looking down at the still sobbing Natsuki in her bosom, she pushed the Gakuencho lightly away. Still holding on to her trembling shoulders, Midori looked at Natsuki in her eyes and said, "Gakuencho, I understood how you felt. But after this, you need to stay strong if you want to get rid of the Slave. Later I get someone to send food in for you and please eat a little even if you have no appetite. The Charming Amethyst would not want to see you like this."

Hearing Shizuru's name again, Natsuki held on to Midori and buried her face into another round of sobbing. Nothing more was said and Midori stood there hugging the principal in a tight embrace. But suddenly she felt the shivering figure went limp and fell. Midori scooped Natsuki up gently and placed the latter on the couch. She wiped away the remaining tears from Natsuki's cheeks and then went to the phone and dialed for Youko number. Youko arrived shortly and checked on Natsuki. "Her body is too weak and she fainted from the hunger and weariness but overall she should be okay soon. She did not eat or sleep for quite awhile." Turning her face and observing the big wet patch from Midori's clothes, Youko whispered. "You better get change soon, or else you will catch a cold. How long did Natsuki cried on you? This girl is really in a mess when Shizuru is not around. Haiz..." Midori smiled and nodded in agreement with Youko and the two of them left Natsuki's office. Midori turned back to Natsuki's sleeping form and made a vow to help avenge Shizuru soon. She did not want to see anymore of her friends to fall into this situation. The Trias and even Shizuru had been in a coma ever since their encounter with the new enemy, Midori figured that she should make her way to the Airies to see if Shizuru would wake up soon before she could plan anything. She called out to her Gakutenou and flew off with it in the darkness to Airies.

Forcing her eyes opened feebly, she immediately closed it again due to the lights. _Where am I? How come I cannot move? My body felt so stiff and my head is so heavy. _Shizuru thought to herself and tried to listen for any sounds. She managed to open her eyes after a few more attempts and found herself in an unfamiliar place. To her left was a sleeping blond head. She glanced around and found another redhead, lying on the sofa near to her bed. Shizuru tried to shift a little only to found herself being attacked by immense pain everywhere. She let out a little ouch but that ouch woke up the blond head. Haruka lifted up her head, to her surprise and yelled at the redhead. "Nao! Wake up! That bubuzuke's woman is awake!" Haruka turned to Shizuru and said, "And for godness sake, its big time you should wake up already. You really can sleep!" Shizuru smiled to Haruka weakly and noticing the mascara marks on Haruka's cheeks and the red puffy eyes which showed that the latter was crying.

Haruka stood up and stretched herself. Shizuru chuckled to Haruka as Nao walked over to the bed. "Goodness you mean Haruka. And also I did not know that I meant so much to you that you would sleep by my bed and cried for me." Haruka face turned beet red and stomped angrily out of the room to the bathroom to wash up. "Nao, where is this place? How long have I been unconscious? I cannot move at all and my whole body feels like it's torn apart." Shizuru mumbled feebly. Nao turned away from the pale, lying form and replied. "You have been in coma for 4 days already. Broke 7 of your ribs, big hole at your side that required 35 stitches. Not to mention about the amount of blood lost and the bruises all over your body. It is a miracle you survived. And which monster did this to you?"

"Ara ara, no wonder I felt like a mummy." Shizuru tried to crack a small joke. But Nao turned back to her and continued. "We are in Airies hospital now. Haruka had been by your side since I brought you in. It was surprising to see her weep herself to sleep beside you. She did not know that I was not sleeping and I did not want to embarrass her every night. I did not bring you back because who knows what your beloved Gakuencho will react." "How is Natsuki? Does she know my condition?" Shizuru miss her greatly and it worried her how was Natsuki coping since she was away for so long. "Earlier on, I saw Midori when she came to visit you. She told us that Natsuki cried so badly that she fainted in her arms last night. That woman did not eat or sleep for days already. Miss Maria stopped her from coming her to see you or to fight the Slave. I did not tell her how bad your condition was. I just told her that you were in coma and that got her into such a bad stage already. Imagine if I carried you back to Garderobe that night on her demands."

Upon hearing Natsuki fainted the night before, Shizuru's heart felt more pain than her body when she tried to sit up. _I need to get back to Garderobe as soon as possible._ To see her Natsuki and take care of the latter who always needed her around. Nao sensing Shizuru's intentions, knowing that any disagreement would be futile, went to help the latter get dressed and with Shizuru's in her arms, she carried the latter to the President's office to express their gratitude and bided goodbyes after Shizuru finished up on a brief summary on the things that happened that night. Haruka could barely contain her excitement but was knocked out by the huge rock that the guards were instructed to before she could dash out to find the Twin Slaves. Then they took their leave and flew off back to Garderobe with Shizuru in Nao's arms.

As the pair was reaching Garderobe, Shizuru asked Nao to land and she insisted on walking by herself. "Ookini Nao. Next time I give you a ride when I get better too. But now I need to walk by myself or there will be a big commotion and caused unnecessary fears in the students." Nao understood Shizuru intentions. Much as she was unwilling, she let the third column onto the ground. Shizuru bit on the lips so hard as every step she took sent her body into spasms of pain. She tried not to frown in pain as she walked slowly with Nao to the principal's office. The students, who saw their favorite onee Sama, ran over and greeted the duo excitedly with yelps and squeals also as both of the columns got their bunch of "fan girls" too. Shizuru and Nao smiled at them and tried to avoid any physical contact with the girls in order not to add anymore pain to Shizuru battered form underneath her light purple dress. When they finally reached the door, Nao took her leave, giving the excuse that she wanted to avoid getting her head ripped off by principal for her disobedience again. Shizuru expressed her thanks and knocked gently on the door as the redhead disappeared round the corner.

No reply came. Shizuru let herself into the office and found it in total darkness. When her eyes accustomed to the dark, she spotted Natsuki on the couch. Shizuru lowered herself and looked at her girlfriend. _Oh my, Natsuki has lost so much weight. Poor girl. _Ignoring her own pain, she carried Natsuki up and went to the right side of the office. Flicking onto a switch, a door opened and she went into their secret bedroom. Gently placing Natsuki on the bed, Shizuru covered the sleeping figure with a blanket and went over to the other side of the bed and lie down. It did not take her long to drift off to sleep again. Shizuru did not realize some of her stitches opened up as she walked to the office and carried Natsuki added on more stress to her wounds and blood were seeping through her bandages and dress and onto their bed.

Natsuki woke up in the middle of the night. She had felt the warmth of someone beside her, smelling the familiar sweetness and the scent of tea, she jumped up. It was Shizuru that was lying beside her. Natsuki could not believe herself and her fingers fumbled for the lights switch at the side of the bed. As the lights came on, it was indeed Shizuru but Natsuki was so shocked when she saw the blood everywhere. She ran out of the bedroom and rang for Youko immediately. Youko arrived minutes later with her medical bag and immediately sent Shizuru to the operating theatre. A disheveled and teary Natsuki followed closely behind and begged Youko to let her into the operating theatre. They had gone through a secret passage that linked the office to the Operating Theatre. Imagine what would happen if the students saw their Shizuru Onee Sama and the Gakuencho in such a state.

As Youko took off Shizuru's clothes with care and cut away all the blood soaked bandages. She examined all the wounds and stopped the bleeding; Natsuki looked so hard at her beloved battered up and bleeding body. She was unable to control herself anymore. She dropped to the floor and sobbed silently at the side. Youko proceed to stitch the large gaping wound at the side and bandaged Shizuru up again. She also transfuse two bags of blood into Shizuru's body and left her on the IV drip. When she was finished with Shizuru, she walked over to the principal and helped her up to the sofa outside. Natsuki was still sobbing uncontrollably. Youko rang up to Nao and asked about Shizuru's original injuries. After hearing the redhead's details, she hung up the phone and went back to Natsuki.

Natsuki looked at Youko and asked about Shizuru's condition between sniffles and gasping for breaths from crying so hard. "Don't worry Gakuencho. Shizuru's recovering well. Just now I think she exerted her body too much when she carried you to the room that caused some of her stitches to break open. I remembered the last time you were on the sofa. But do not worry. Now she is okay and all we can do is let her rest." Upon hearing this, Natsuki stood up and asked. "I heard you talking to Nao just now. And what was Shizuru's original wounds like? "7 broken ribs, 35stitches on the right, bruises all over and she just woke up from coma few hours ago." Came the calm reply from the Chief. But this reply sent the Gakuencho into another round of darkness. Youko carried Natsuki's limp form and placed her on a bed beside Shizuru and put the latter on a drip too before exiting the room. She shook her head as she made her way to the bathroom for a change of clothes as it was smeared with Shizuru's blood also. _Both the columns are down now and the Trias are not doing any better. I need to inform Miss Maria and Yukariko sensei first. _

Back at the Schwarz headquarters, Smith was rolling on the floor with laughter. He was clutching his sides from the pain from laughing too hard as he saw the fear in that was in the Charming Amethyst eyes and the damage his new toys did to her. _This would teach them a lesson and make them crack their heads for a long time on how to deal with his new invincible creations. _He smirked and went back to his laboratory to create more toys.

School carried on as usual the next day. Nao was forced by Youko to sit inside the Principal office and answered to any calls there was. The conditions of the two columns were to be kept highly confidential. Cursing and grumbling under her breath, Nao sat inside the office for a whole day, wishing that the two would faster get well so that she would not be stuck with this boring job. Although some students noticed the absence of the Gakuencho and their Shizuru onee Sama and asked. But Miss Maria just told them the two were out for some errands. Youko stayed by the two columns and the Trias whole day and only left the place when she needed to use the bathroom or grab some food. She also went through all the information that she had gathered and racked her brains on how to give them more efficient treatment. She also heard about Shizuru's encounter from Yukino. She leaned back on her chair and dozed off to sleep as she was too tired from the past few days.

Shizuru stirred and opened her eyes. The smell of antiseptic and the familiar background told her that she was in Garderobe Hospital. She saw Youko slumped onto the chair sleeping at the corner and her Natsuki lying serenely on the other side. _Ara ara, we both sleeping together in the hospital. How weak we are. _She smiled to herself. She saw the IV drip on both of them and it sent her into another sniggle but stopped soon after when the pain became unbearable. Adjusting her bed to a sitting position, she sat up painfully and slowly and carried her drip on her hand and walked over to Natsuki's bed with painstaking efforts. Shizuru hung her IV drip besides Natsuki and squeezed onto the bed beside Natsuki and cuddled her love one. Smelling her ever so pleasant Natsuki, it made her forget the pain the she had and dozed off to sleep again, smiling at the thought of Youko's face when she woke up and see the two of them on one bed.


	3. Chapter 3

Chapter Three –

The third chapter is up. Sorry for the delay. I do not own Mai Hime/ Mai Otome no matter how hard I wished. This chapter is more on our beloved couple inside the hospital room when they woke up. Hope you all read and enjoy. All reviews are welcome and greatly appreciated. Do correct me on my mistakes too as usual. Thanks a lot.

**Chapter Three – Blushing Natsuki**

Turning her face and snuggled into the bosom of her love as what she always do in the morning before they wake up and start their daily routine. So nice to feel the familiar contours but somehow the smell of antiseptic and the roughness of the fabric felt different when her face came into contact with. Her snuggling brought about a loud moan, with mixture of pleasure and pain from Shizuru. This caused both of them to open their eyes wide. Shizuru was jolted up from the pain attacking her whole body when Natsuki turned and snuggle up her. Bright lights made them closed their eyes instantly but it was not long after a few blinks, their eyes got accustomed to it.

"Ara my Natsuki is being as naughty as always in the morning." Shizuru tease brought a faint blush to Natsuki's face. Natsuki looked at the ever gorgeous face with big pretty eyes and immediately looked down at the body. She was thinking what was the rough material and strong smell of medicine doing on the girlfriend body. When she saw all the bandages, all the memories came crashing back into her groggy and heavy head. Shizuru was hurt with so much injuries and bruises everywhere. Just when she was to say something, a chuckle came from behind Shizuru. The couple immediately turned to the direction of the sound, only to be greeted by three pairs of eyes. The chuckle came from Youko, who had her face behind her hand trying to hold in the laughter.

"I was wondering how much more I can see... hehehe... before you two lovebirds realize... hahahahaha... that this is not the comfortable bed inside the privacy of your bedroom... hahahhahahahahahaha..." Youko was bent onto the floor half kneeling, half sitting as she let go of the incontrollable laughter by the time she finished her sentence between the giggles. Standing at the side was the ever stern Miss Maria with a big frown who looked like she was about to burst into anger at the two columns' intimacy in the hospital room and Nao who keep on rolling her eyes at the couple with a smile.

Natsuki sat up immediately with a face as red as the tomato. She was caught in the act and was so shy now. Shizuru let out a small giggle and said, "Oh my, how radiant the Gakuencho looks. She must have been doing a lot of exercise during my absence to keep herself so healthy and red face." This brought about another roar of laughter and giggle and even Miss Maria covered her face and try to hide the chuckle that came uncontrollably. Natsuki head hung even lower and wished that a hole would just come and swallow her up.

When the room finally died down with laughter, and the grasping of breaths from all the occupants inside, Shizuru was clutching her whole body so tightly as the excruciating pain hit every parts of her inside when she laughed. Panting heavily, Natsuki turned to Shizuru and mumbled, "How you feeling now? And who did that to you? Why did you not wake me up and instead carry me into the room with so many injuries yourself? Why did ..." Natsuki did not finish her sentence as Shizuru gently placed her finger on her lips. Seeing that the Gakuencho eyes start glistening with tears again, the whole room went into silence.

"I am feeling a lot better after hugging my Natsuki to sleep. Although it feels a little stiff now. But Natsuki is all the medicine that needs to get my body well again." Shizuru said gently while looking at the emerald eyes lovingly. This brought about giggles from Youko and Nao and almost instantly the giggles died down as Natsuki shot daggers at them with her stare. "I saw my beautiful princess sleeping on the couch so peacefully and beautifully that's why I cant bear to wake her up. Ara but I wanted her to sleep more comfortably so I carried the little baby into our bedroom." Shizuru continued. This time round Youko and Nao were treated with flying pillows that the embarrassed Natsuki threw at them when the two of them rolled on the floor, unable to control their laughter again anymore. Miss Maria stood at the side again trying so hard to keep her composure.

"Shizuru! How can you joke with your body like this?" Natsuki chided her girlfriend who made her so shy with her sweet talk in front of their Garderobe colleagues. "Piang!" The room door burst open, a blond head with a large package stomp in and banged the door shut again. Seeing Garderobe fourth column and Chief researcher on sprawled on the floor with pillows everywhere and a frowning Miss Maria staring at her, Haruka wondered what happened but none the less, she turned to the bed and saw Shizuru squeezed together with Natsuki. "What the hell is happening? Is Garderobe hospital short on beds that the patients need to share one? Or is it that the Gakuencho miss that bubuzuke woman so much that she does not even give her space to rest? The ever loud Haruka yelled at them and not giving anyone chance to reply, she turned to the duo on the floor and continued ranting. "Is the floor so dirty that it needs you both to clean it with your clothes and the pillows? Oh my God! What is happening now? And Miss Maria is just standing there doing nothing at the sight of everything! Oh my god oh my god!!"

Miss Maria started walking towards the shocked Haruka and clear her throat. "Meister Haruka Armitage" the voice came out menacingly that made everyone held their breaths. "Do you know that this is a private and confidential hospital room and you just come in making such a big commotion and sending accusations flying everywhere without first understanding the situation? Is this what was taught to you in Garderobe? I do not remember any of this in the academy syllabus for as long as I am here."

"Erm erm... I just here to deliver this packard to the Chief Researcher, Youko. And also here to see how Shizuru is doing." An uncomfortable Haruka shifted under the glare of her former head mistress. Shizuru saw her friend looking at her with desperate big eyes for help to avoid further lashing from Miss Maria, smiled at the latter and reply, " Ara my dear Haruka, you must have miss me a lot and I appreciate your kind thoughts. I am feeling a little better now though my mummified body looks otherwise." Pointing to her heavily bandaged torso feebly and continued, "You are here to deliver the package you mean. How nice. I thought it was a get well present from you to me." Ending in slightly a chuckle, Haruka blushed from the tease and at the same time let out a sigh after seeing Miss Maria turned away from her to the Charming Amethyst.

Youko and Nao was already standing by the time all these finished. They adjusted their disheveled hair and clothes and Youko stepped towards Haruka and accepted the parcel. Everyone was curious what it was and the big ugly words scrawled across the wrapper satisfied their curiosity. "Soulvelior from Shizuru's body!" the handwriting definitely came from the loud blond, who was ever so bad with her pronunciation and her spelling. The whole room burst out with laughter and Miss Maria could not help but spelt out the word for her. S-o-u-v-e-n-i-r. This set Haruka on another blushing spell again. Sensing everyone's eyes on the package and since there were no outsider here, Youko carried the package over to the bed and tore off the wrapper. A thick envelope, REPORT, was typed across the middle was on top of the box. Wondering what it was inside, everyone started peering closer and closer. Youko removed the lid and it brought gasps from Natsuki, Haruka and Youko. Miss Maria's eyes were open wide in bewilderment. Only Shizuru and Nao seemed calm and unfettered by the sight of the big disgusting black thing which was inside the box. It was super sharp on one end.

"Wha... what was this?" Natsuki blurt out in a more blur tone then she wished to. She was unable to contain her doubts anymore as she remember the words on the package that said it was from Shizuru's body. How on earth this hideous black thing was in her love body? Was it from the fight? Haruka looked as blur as ever because when Yukino sent her over to deliver this package, she revealed nothing about the contents and only told her it's from Shizuru's body. She knew Haruka was worried about Shizuru and purposely sent her to Garderobe so that Haruka could visit her friend. Youko turned to Nao and Shizuru, waiting for some sort of explanation as the two of them did not look surprised at all when they saw the black thing.

"That's the end of the tail from the slave that was stuck to Shizuru's body when I found her." Nao said calmly. She remembered this black thing that was stabbed into The Charming Amethyst right side when she caught the falling Shizuru that night. Blood was still gushing out from the gaping wound. When she carried Shizuru into the office, Haruka was not there yet and all Haruka saw was after the operation. No wonder Haruka went wide eye at the severed end of the tail.

"What!?" exclaimed the Gakuencho and the blond head simultaneously. Before they could say another thing, Youko replaced the lid to the box and pick it up, along with the envelope. She needed to read the report as soon as possible and do some investigations and examination on the severed end of the tail. "This explains the number of stitches from Shizuru side that you saw last night." Youko looked at Natsuki and turning towards Haruka, "Thanks Meister Haruka for delivering this heavy package here to me." Before she exit the room.

Shizuru remained silent throughout and Natsuki was bursting with questions inside her. Seeing the situation getting a bit weird, Nao decided to leave the room and leave the couple inside. Miss Maria also notice Nao's intention and they excused themselves from the room, half dragging, half pushing a yelling Haruka out despite the blond head's objections. Haruka was not only loud, she was also a bit blockhead with looking at peoples facial expressions and reading the intentions. This was why till now she had yet to notice that the love President Yukino had for her was beyond just a Master and her Otome, or even best friends.

When the couple was finally left alone, Natsuki looked down at the quiet Shizuru. As the pretty face basked in the light, Natsuki noticed that the injuries had taken toll on her beloved body. Aside from the loss of weight, the dark rings below Shizuru's eyes were also showing a little. _Nevertheless she still look as beautiful. _Natsuki thought. Shizuru had her eyes closed and the only sound that were in the room was only the steady breathing from the two of them. Natsuki knew that the Charming Amethyst was not asleep at all. And her heart was practically overloaded with questions regarding Shizuru's fight. Her heart wrenched in pain so much when she heard Nao's word just now. Shizuru had never gotten any serious injuries since they knew each other. This made Natsuki bit on her lips and hissed under her breath, vowing to get revenge on the Slave even more.

Sensing the Gakuencho thoughts and hearing the hiss that came under the breath, Shizuru opened her eyes once more and looked up at Natsuki. Their eyes met and for a moment, Natsuki forgot her anger. Whenever Shizuru looked at her like that, it always make her forgot what happened and she wished that time would just stopped there. "I understand that my Natsuki wants to get revenge for me at the Slave who did this to my body that belongs to her. But first my princess must get well and up even before she can do anything. You looked so weak that you cannot even kill an ant now. And also I was just away for a few days, you have lost so much weight and I heard that you had fainted from fatigue and hunger also." Shizuru chided Natsuki jokingly, knowing full well that Natsuki was worried about her too much to eat or sleep.

Natsuki opened her mouth in protest, only to lose her balance and ended up on Shizuru chest when the latter pulled her supporting hand from the bed. Letting out a wince from the pain as Natsuki's head came in contact with her battered body, Shizuru turned and hugged her girlfriend. Natsuki could feel the contours of her lover's body and not wanting to aggravate Shizuru pain, she looped her hands over the inviting slender neck and planted a peck there. Turning her head up, she shift gently till she came face to face with Shizuru. Both of them miss each other so badly and their lips were locked in the ever sweet kiss with their eyes closed, both fighting for the dominance of each other's mouth.

Back in the laboratory, Youko was going through the report. The researcher at Airies had a full detail report on the Slave tail and Yukino had also enclosed a summary of Shizuru's fight with the Slave as she had yet to ask Shizuru about it. _Hmmm.. regenerative powers. I need to see what I can do about this now. And Shizuru was dealing with two Slaves at the same time. That's probably how strong our third column was to make it back alive. _Youko stepped up from the chair and moved towards the package on the side of the table. But before she start her analysis, she went out of the room to take a look at the Trias who had been in a coma for almost two weeks already. The Trias were nowhere as strong as the Charming Amethyst who woke up in a couple of days despite the injuries. But a good thing was that none of the Trias came back with the severed ends of the slaves in them.


End file.
